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Become a Social Media Guru

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General Tips For Social Media Investigations

No matter which social media outlet you are using to investigate, always verify your findings.  Don’t take everything you uncover on social media to be gospel truth.  People lie and they lie even more on social media, sometimes purposely misleading viewers with fake information in order to protect their privacy or simply to create a better picture of themselves.

Utilize http://www.archive.org every time.  This resource allows you to view older versions of social media profiles, which will often reveal some of the best bits of information.

Don’t just investigate your target’s social media profiles.  Investigate their family, friends, and contacts too.

Don’t ever assume someone else’s identity on social media, pretending to be a target’s friend or family member.  This may gain you access to private information, but it is definitely illegal.

The same username or different versions of a single username are often used across social media platforms.

There are so many social media networks out there.  If you’re really digging for information, don’t limit your investigation to the top four below.

 

Facebook

Facebook still reigns as social media king with more users than any other format at nearly two billion active worldwide users.  It is most popular among middle-aged individuals, educated persons, females, and those with more wealth.  This social media network is worth checking in EVERY investigation.

Find a Target’s Facebook Profile:

Use Facebook’s Search Capabilities:

  • General Steps:
    1. Go to www.facebook.com 
    2. Sign into your account
    3. Using the “Search Facebook” box at the top, type the name, name & location, username, email, or phone number you have for the target
    4. If you don’t find your target’s profile right away, click “see all results for…..” at the bottom of the list Facebook gives you
    5. A “Filter Results” column should now appear on the left
    6. Use the “Filter Results” on the left and the “top” “posts” “people” “photos” “videos” “pages” “places” “groups” “apps” “events” at the top to further filter your results
  • http://jjsocialmediamanager.com/how-to-search-people-on-facebook-advanced-search/

Search For the Target’s Location:

  • Check upcoming events the target might be attending
  • Look for patterns in past events attended
  • Check status updates
  • Look for clues in their photos
  • View their check-ins, videos, reviews, & groups

Helpful Websites For More On a Target’s Facebook Account:

 

Twitter

Twitter is the largest microblogging website in the world.  It is most popular among females, persons under 30, urban dwellers, and African Americans.  It is much less popular among older Americans.  Only about 12% of Twitter users make their profiles private, which means all of their information is easily accessible.

Find a Target’s Twitter Profile:

Use Twitter’s Search Capabilities:

  • Search by email (which is especially useful for users who don’t use their real name as their Twitter handle), name, username, or hashtag
  • Search box returns both users and tweets
  • Browse a target’s follower/following lists to find associates
  • Review profile, which gives name, short biography, & sometimes location
  • Advanced search at https://twitter.com/search-advanced 

Search For the Target’s Location:

  • Click on a tweet to get the exact date, time, & location of the tweet, unless this information has been made private.  The location gives a pin map.
  • geosocialfootprint.com - uses location information of last 200 tweets via GPS enabled tweets, social check-ins, geocoding, & profile harvesting

Helpful Websites For More On a Target’s Twitter Account:

 

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is meant for professional interactions, so it draws a professional crowd.  The typical user is male, older, more affluent, white, and higher educated.  It is worthwhile to investigate a target’s LinkedIn profile to determine their employment status, view their potential resume, and glean a wealth of information such as groups they belong to, boards on which they serve, publications, job history, professional interactions, etc.

Find a Target’s LinkedIn Profile:

Use LinkedIn’s Search Capabilities:

  • General Steps:
    1. Go to www.linkedin.com 
    2. Sign into your account
    3. Using the “search” box at the top, type the name you have for the target
    4. If you don’t find your target’s profile right away, click the very last search result in the list LinkedIn gives you
    5. All of the search results for the name you entered will show up
    6. A “Filter people by” column should now appear on the right
    7. Use the “Filter people by” on the right and the “top” “people” “jobs” “posts” “companies” “groups” “schools” at the top to further filter your results

Search For the Target’s Location:

  • Simply look on a target’s profile to determine if location information is given

Helpful Websites For More On a Target’s LinkedIn Account:

 

Instagram

This photo-sharing app is best known for its use of captions and hashtags.  Both the photos themselves and the captions or hashtags attached to them can provide some very valuable information during an investigation.  This real-time sharing platform is incredibly popular with teens.  Over 90% of its users are under the age of 35.  Two-thirds are women and over one-third are aged 18-29 years.  Less than 5% of all accounts are private, so most information is free game and totally public.

Find a Target’s Instagram Profile:

Use Instagram’s Search Capabilities:

  • Click the compass rose icon for the search feature
  • Search by name or username

Search For the Target’s Location:

  • A wealth of location information can be found on some photos, as well as a time stamp
  • Clicking the location of a photo will also show other photos that have been tagged at that location

Helpful Websites For More On a Target’s Instagram Account: